Library director wins national award for post-storm paper

NIKKI BUSKEY Staff Writer

Tuesday

Jul 17, 2007 at 11:49 AMJul 17, 2007 at 12:36 PM

HOUMA -- Libraries might not be the first place you would think to turn for help in a disaster, but Terrebonne Parish Library Director Mary Cosper LeBoeuf has written a paper detailing just how valuable these information centers can be.

LeBoeuf received a second-place award from the American Library Association for her report, "Ill Winds: Hurricanes and Public Libraries Along the Gulf Coast," which was featured in "Public Libraries Magazine." The report details how libraries in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama fared during the 2005 hurricanes.

The director said she wanted to document what libraries were doing to serve the public, even when their buildings were damaged and employees were affected.

"We were e-mailing each other to find out how we were doing it, handling all the people and the help they needed," said LeBoeuf.

Terrebonne’s Main Library, for example, is next door to the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center, which housed hundreds of evacuees during and after the storms. It became an impromptu information center for people who lost touch with their families or wanted updated information about their homes.

Because the power grid that powers the Main Library also serves Houma Police and the parish government, the library had electricity when many other places did not, LeBoeuf said.

Librarians used their computer skills to help people scour the Internet and connect with relatives, and set up e-mail trees so that people could continuously update friends and relatives on their whereabouts.

Librarians were able to link to Web sites with satellite imagery of New Orleans, so evacuees could determine which areas of the city were inundated.

Workers also helped some illiterate evacuees fill out complex FEMA forms and provided comfort services, holding storytelling times for children and allowing the displaced to check out books.

"Katrina hit on a Monday, and we were open the Wednesday afterward," LeBoeuf said. "Eleven of our staff had water in their homes. Five people lost everything. But we kept going."

During Hurricane Rita, the Chauvin branch was submerged in 18 inches of water, and the Grand Caillou branch was destroyed, LeBoeuf said. Librarians are still rebuilding.

The staff was able to save 80 percent of Chauvin’s collection and its computers. The Chauvin branch has been moved to higher ground, and a mobile library, arriving here Wednesday, will service Dulac residents while their library is being rebuilt.

LeBoeuf said she hopes her award-winning paper will encourage other librarians by detailing the services they can offer during a disaster.

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